Soviet Union

Energy Planning Goals

In 1986 the stated goals of Soviet energy policy were ambitious
ones. The share of nuclear power was to increase drastically, and
new, large-capacity nuclear plants were to be built, mainly in the
European sector. Expansion of the natural gas industry was to
contribute more of that fuel to power generation. More coal was to
be available to thermoelectric stations from surface mining in
remote fuel-and-power complexes such as Kansko-Achinsk and
Ekibastuz, and larger thermoelectric stations were to be built near
coal deposits. More hydroelectric plants were planned on rivers in
Siberia, Soviet Central Asia, and the Soviet Far East.
Ultra-high-voltage, long-distance power lines (including the
longest in the world) would link thermoelectric power stations in
Asia with European and Ural industrial centers and would connect
Soviet nuclear plants with Warsaw Pact allies
(see Appendix C).
Better equipment was to limit power losses occurring over such
lines. And alternative, renewable power sources such as wind and
solar energy were to be exploited for small-scale local needs.
Because nuclear and thermal plants were expected to increase their
share of power generation, in long-term planning the industry has
concentrated on making the generating units of these plants larger
and more efficient. In the European sector, a primary goal has been
flexible response to high- and low-demand cycles--a feature that
nuclear plants do not provide.